Chile

Preparing for a new Bachelet government, Marcel Claude and the building
of a new force for workers and youth

This year, workers and youth in struggle – in Chile and around the world
- marked the 40th anniversary of the bloody military US-backed coup
which brought down the Popular Unity government of Salvador Allende in
blood. Much comment has been made on the significance of this
anniversary, including by the CWI [see on this link]. However, today’s
events in Chile, where Presidential and legislative elections will take
place on 17 November, are giving this anniversary a new significance.
The arrival of a new period of crisis, turmoil, struggle and instability
is seeing the contradictions stored up following the coup and botched-up
transition to “democracy” unravel, seemingly all at once.

The current Presidential election campaign, despite the large majority
predicted for former Concertacion (“centre-left” coalition which ruled
for over 20 years following Pinochet) President, Michelle Bachelet,
reflects in many ways Chile’s entry into this new period.

Contradictions of post-Pinochet era unravelling

Following Pinochet’s coup, Chile became the world’s laboratory for
neo-liberal policies. The crushing of the workers’ movement and left by
Pinochet opened the door to a series of brutal attacks. Thus, the
struggle against it was tightly bound up with the struggle of the
working class for rights and decent conditions, and therefore against
Chilean capitalism: the dictatorship of the bosses and imperialism. The
massive demonstrations and strike-waves which marked the last years of
the dictatorship were seen by many workers as a way to take up anew the
struggle begun in the 1970s for a socialist society. However, this
process was tragically nipped in the bud, as the leaders of the workers’
and main left organizations succeeded in channelling these struggles
along the path of “peaceful negotiations”, which established capitalist
democracy without doing away with the dictatorship of the big bosses and
imperialism. Workers and the poor were told that this transition would
allow the election of left governments which would dramatically change
the situation.

An indeed, November 17 will be Chile’s 6th Presidential election since
the end of the dictatorship, out of which 4 have been won by
Concertacion candidates. However, these 20 years of Concertacion
governments have been 20 years of betrayal, during which the
neo-liberalism of the Pinochet era was not only maintained, but often
deepened. Pinochet’s constitution was maintained – he was even appointed
Senator for life!

The last government of Bachelet – despite her nauseating attempts to
emphasise her anti-dictatorship credentials - was no exception. Bachelet
– daughter of an anti-coup military leader during Allende’s government
killed by torture - did of course, struggle against the Pinochet coup
and was even tortured herself following its triumph. However, she
quickly forgot about this as she approached power. She did not touch
Pinochet’s constitution or anti-worker laws. Her regime even employed
“anti-terrorist” laws dreamt up under Pinochet against the struggles of
the Mapuche people. Under her government more Mapuche (oppressed
indigenous community) were assassinated by state forces than under the
current right-wing government of Pinera!

Discredited political establishment and system, inherited from
dictatorship

As one can imagine, patience with the Concertacion and the whole
botched-up arrangement of post-Pinochet Chile began to wear out. Over 20
years later, this was given a distorted expression in the Concertacion’s
first Presidential election defeat, with the victory of the right and
Pinera. The Concertacion had so badly betrayed the struggle to change
Chile following the dictatorship that the unthinkable – a democratic
election victory for a supporter of the coup! – happened.

However, the right wing’s honeymoon was extremely short-lived, and
Pinera leaves office as the least popular President since Allende (i.e.
even less popular than the bloody dictator himself!). The main factor in
this is the reawakening of the class struggle. However, this has
generally not been accompanied by a recuperation of confidence in the
Concertacion.

Indeed, the main development has been one of a massive disillusionment
with the entire political establishment. For example, the last electoral
date (municipal elections in November last year) saw over 60%
abstaining! This phenomenon is especially strong amongst the youth. At
the time of Pinera’s election 75% of young people had not seen the point
in even registering to vote! Knowing this, it is no surprise that it is
the youth – in the form of the massive and heroic student movement –
which has been the chief protagonist in the explosion of struggle over
the last years.

These explosive struggles have been marked by a massive rejection of the
system, and have featured far reaching demands, including the abolition
of the Pinochet constitution and the formation of a Constituent
Assembly. The election campaign – even that of the bourgeois parties –
reflects this. There is not one major candidate, from either the “left”
of right, who does not call for either reform or abolition of the
Constitution! This reflects the massive questioning and opposition which
exists to the failed system established following the dictatorship.

The right-wing campaign has been split, partially reflecting the
headache that the dictatorship represents for it. Alongside Evelyn
Mattei, candidate of the Alianza, a second right-wing candidate,
economist and TV personality, Franco Parisi, is also standing. He is
running on a right-wing programme, but attempting to give it a “fresh
face”, emphasising the need to break from an explicit association with
the legacy of the dictatorship (despite inconvenient photos of him
alongside Pinochet!). Parisi’s campaign, which has developed more
momentum than many thought, even neck and neck with the official Alianza
candidate in some polls, is another expression – albeit distorted – of
the crisis of the regime.

The Bachelet phenomenon – towards a new government of crisis

Bachelet’s popularity would seem to contradict this picture, but this is
misleading. First of all, her “high popularity” masks the massive
majority which has no intention to vote for her, between those who will
vote for others and those who will not vote at all. Moreover, her case
is far more the exception than it is the rule.

A key factor which maintained stability during the post-Pinochet period
was the economic growth which Chile experienced quite consistently,
especially during the last decade. At the advent of the economic crisis,
Chile’s boom seemed to continue unabated, surfing on the wave of the
Chinese economy. However China has not been able to save the Latin
American or Chilean economy from the impact of the crisis, which is now
being reflected in a rapid slowdown. The reality is that many who look
to the Bachelet years with a sense of nostalgia do so because the
memories of the economic “success” which her government bring, and which
formed the basis for the very limited miniscule social reforms which she
implemented. However, the perspective for a Bachelet government in 2013
will not be the same, and her regime will be pushed into ever greater
conflicts with the social majority. For the workers’ movement and left,
this perspective is key to the breakthroughs which are possible and
necessary over the next years. This in contrast to the shameful policy
of the Chilean Communist Party leadership, which has chosen this moment,
the worst imaginable, to finally fully throw in its lot with the
Concertacion, which provoked a significant crisis and polarisation in
its ranks, with some even leaving to join the ranks of the Marcel Claude
campaign.

Bachelet and the Concertacion are preparing a new conjob. Her policy
promises – which reflect the radicalisation in society and the pressure
of the class struggle – such as for free education, a new constitution
are intended to seduce voters, but by no means to be implemented. In
this conjob, Bachelet will be facilitated by Chile’s anti-democratic
electoral laws. In order to pass any significant legislation, a
government requires a majority of either two-thirds, three fifths or
four sevenths of congress, which Bachelet is almost certain not to
achieve. Election promises such as free education, abortion rights, gay
marriage etc, will thus be shelved with this as “justification”. A
genuinely socialist government would not allow itself to be held in a
straight-jacket by Pinochet’s laws, but would base itself on the
mobilisation and power of the working class to defy capitalist law and
transform society.

Many are speculating that Bachelet does not even want a majority which
is so big as to expose her lack of will to act to change the situation!
In the press in recent weeks, there have even been reports of a secret
meeting between the President of the PS (part of the Concertacion) and a
Senator from the Alianza, aimed at reaching a “deal” whereby Bachelet
wins in the first round of Presidential elections, thus preventing an
overly humiliating defeat for the right wing in a second round (if the
official Alianza candidate can even get there!). The rotten leaders of
the Concertacion need a “reliable” opposition, which makes the emergence
of a real opposition force to its anti-worker policies more difficult to
develop.

In the first explosions of the student movement, the hatred felt towards
the political establishment was often translated into a crudely
“anti-party” mood, elements of which can be seen in many countries from
Europe to Latin America. While understanding this mood and its
progressive origins in a rejection of the rotten parties of the past,
revolutionary socialists also seek to overcome this mood, which
represents an obstacle towards the development of the necessary
political expression of the rising class struggle.

Rising tide of struggle

However, the lack of a mass political alternative has not stopped
Chilean workers, oppressed and youth from developing their own
opposition on the streets and in the workplaces. The student movement
has brought numbers out on to the streets not seen since for over 20
years. It galvanised the opposition to the status quo throughout society
and won support from all quarters of the working class. A new generation
of activists has been steeled in struggle, facing the brutal repression
of the infamous carbineros.

And the students have not been alone. In the South of the country, a
massive rebellion saw authorities all-but expelled from entire regions,
as communities united in strikes and blockades against price speculation
and poor service provision. The significant industrial disputes of the
last years are too numerous to mention, from precarious non-unionised
workers in the retail sector, to the heaviest batallion of the Chilean
proletariat, the copper workers.

And all of this has taken place despite the absence of any kind of lead
being given from above in the main trade unions. Leaders of the once
mighty CUT (main trade union federation) are now often as hated as the
capitalist politicians among those in the front line of struggle. Only 3
months ago, port workers waged an inspirational struggle against attacks
on wages and conditions. This struggle spread from one port to another,
shutting down the sector across the country in a question of days, and
the port workers do not even have a national union! As in many cases,
workers and youth are struggling, and finding ways around the roadblocks
erected by right-wing trade union leaders and the absence of a mass
political voice of the working class.

Marcel Claude and the ‘Todos a la Moneda’ campaign

However, the Presidential election campaign of Marcel Claude, and the
‘Todos a la Moneda’ campaign in which Socialismo Revolucionario (CWI in
Chile) is participating with members standing for both the Senate and
regional councils, has opened the way for this absence of a political
voice for the struggles of workers and youth to be overcome. The
campaign seemingly emerged from nowhere, and has developed great
momentum. Mass assemblies of the campaign have been organised throughout
the country, with much participation by youth and student activists and
organisations, indicating an important development of consciousness
beyond a crude “anti-party” position and an acceptance of the need to
engage in a political struggle. Indeed, among the youth, opinion polls
show that Claude enjoys equal support to Bachelet among those below 24
years old! The campaign has galvanised support among all key sectors
involved in struggle, from the tens of thousands in struggle against the
unfair AFP private pensions system to the communities in struggle
against poor provision of services, such as in Aysen.

Claude’s programme incorporates many of the key demands of these
struggles, including the demand for free public education and
healthcare, financed by progressive taxation and the re-nationalisation
of copper and other natural resources. The campaign also demands the
formation of a new Constituent Assembly, based on a process involving
workers and young people’s organisations and social movements to draw up
a new Constitution, replacing that of the Pinochet regime. Claude
describes himself as an anti-capitalist, and correctly opposes any
electoral deal with Bachelet, including any possible support to her in a
second round against the traditional right wing.

However, while this programme represents a key step in the right
direction and allows for a political struggle to develop to satisfy the
demands of the workers and social movements, there remain important
contradictions and insufficiencies within it. While defending
anti-capitalism, Claude stops short of explaining the need for an
alternative, socialist society. This is an important weakness which
Socialismo Revolucionario (CWI) explains must be overcome.

Indeed, if the key proposals of the Claude campaign were implemented,
they would pose the necessity of a struggle for system change. The
nationalisation of copper to pay for free education and health for
example, would require the nationalisation of the banks under democratic
control in order to develop a plan for the economy and allow the
investment of resources in increasing living standards and improving
public services. In this sense, Marcel Claude’s support for only
“control and regulation” of the banks cannot be sufficient. A
revolutionary constituent assembly, based on workers’ democracy in
workplaces, educational institutions and communities, could provide over
a new “transition”, this time a revolutionary one, to do away with
capitalism and complete the decades-long struggle of the Chilean working
class for socialism, following its bloody defeat in 1973.

In order for this to be possible, a revolutionary approach much be
consciously adopted by the left and social movements. As Patricio
Guzman, Socialismo Revolucionario (CWI) member and candidate for Senator
explained in a recent debate on TVN, Chile’s main national TV station,
“what we need is to do away with capitalism and fight for a new
socialist society”. Only such a perspective can lastingly satisfy the
demands of Chilean workers and youth, as part of an international
struggle for socialism throughout Latin America and the world.

Some polls give Claude’s presidential campaign up to 7% support. However
it is now crucial to ensure that this important project is not simply
wrapped up following the elections. Socialismo Revolucionario, along
with others in the campaign – especially those involved in the “Workers
Front for Marcel Claude” – argue that ‘Todos a la Moneda’ must be merely
a first step. The "Workers’ Front for Marcel Claude" is an initiative
taken by Socialismo Revolucionario (CWI) members, leading militant trade
unionists and other left activists and groups, which seeks to mobilise
and organise support for the campaign among workers in struggle, and
inject a political class and socialist content into the campaign and its
demands. It was launched in a rally of up to 1,000 people and clearly
campaigns on the need to give continuity to the current project, which
can serve as a springboard for the development of a political force to
change Chilean society. A mass political force, a new party of workers,
youth and the oppressed, with roots in every workplace and community,
and a fighting socialist programme is on the order of the day. The
Claude campaign will only succeed in genuinely transforming Chilean
society and politics if it assists in such a development.